A Brief Introduction of 

Mr. Bartholomew Shaha

Bart Shaha, 55, has had a distinguished and extensive YMCA vocation spread over almost 30 years at the local, national, regional and world levels. He has been the General Secretary of the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs since 1996.  

He was appointed General Secretary of the YMCA in Chittagong, Bangladesh, in 1973, a position he held until 1981 when he was appointed as Executive Secretary for Leadership Development of the then Asia Alliance of YMCAs. In 1988 he returned to Bangladesh as the National General Secretary of Bangladesh YMCAs. From 1992 to 1995 he served as Executive Secretary for Global Programmes and Communications at the World Alliance of YMCAs.  

Bart Shaha, a devout Roman Catholic, is a committed and dedicated Christian leader. Working with people of various Christian denominations and people of different faiths and cultural backgrounds, he has developed a broad ecumenical perspective and a strong cultural sensitivity to people of all cultures.  

Global in perspective, he has as General Secretary of the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs, been able to motivate YMCAs in the region to strategically focus the programme thrust to meet the challenges of current times in their particular contexts. He has motivated YMCAs to engage in people’s participatory processes of development and empowerment, sustainable development, building and strengthening civil society; youth and gender concerns, human rights and migrant workers issues.  He has been able to generate financial resources internally from the region and from external partners, to support these programme initiatives. He has also developed and successfully implemented plans for the extension and strengthening of YMCA movements within the Asia and Pacific region. 

He has extensive experience in movement building and management of the YMCA admidst great diversities and a variety of needs at different levels. He is a member of the Global Staff Team and has participated in the development of the drafts of the Global Strategic Directions and the Global Operating Plan.

Also a gifted writer, poet and musician, he has edited and published writings, composed hymns and songs, and written poems to reflect contemporary issues and express the vision of a new society of justice and peace. Among his published works are "Seeking Abundant Life For All" and "Leaders We Want".

Apart from his commitment to the Mission of the YMCA and his vast YMCA experience, he holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Portland, Oregon, USA. Prior to that he studied Theology for five years at Christ the King Major Seminary in Karachi, Pakistan, after obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, English Literature and Bengali Literature from Notre Dame College, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 

Bart is married to Emily, a former school teacher, and they have two daughters, Sangita Francisca (23) and Suchinta Patricia (18).